Live Your Happy Ending
by thoughtsmussingsandwishes
Summary: What is your life like after being the Dark One? Set a few weeks after Emma is freed from the Dark Curse. Emma and Regina try to figure out what their happy endings are. Mentions of OutlawQueen and CaptainSwan but it's a SwanQueen endgame.
1. The proposal

This is my first attempt at a fanfic. I hope you like it!

I do not own the rights to Once Upon a Time.

Emma was driving without purpose. Well that's not technically true, she just had no destination.

The purpose was to clear her mind. Emma's mind was in a jumble. Her emotions were all over the place. She felt confused and scared and happy, and anxious and…a little angry? She was also too shocked to try and sort these emotions out.

 _But why was she so shocked?_

Killian asking for her hand in marriage shouldn't have come out of left field. They had been dating for a while now and he had made his intentions of being with her pretty clear when he had called her his Happy Ending. She had even told him she loved him before the whole "Dark One" fiasco.

Despite all this, Emma really wasn't expecting the question.

It's not like she had had much time to think about the state of their relationship since she had declared her love …considering she had been the dark one for over six moths. And she had only been back to "normal" for two weeks now.

But if Emma was being honest with herself, she had never thought about it. There was always something so much more important happening than her budding relationship with the pirate. She had never given a thought to if she wanted it to lead to something more.

The moment he asked her, Emma immediately wanted to flee the room. To get as far away from the claustrophobic situation as possible. She had to remind herself that she wasn't that person anymore. She couldn't just run away from her problems. So she had kissed him hoping it would ease the sting of her next words. She didn't say no exactly, only that she needed time. Time to think and process. And he had been visibly disappointed but he said that she should take her time and he would wait however long.

Emma doesn't realize where she had driven to until she has pulled up in front of the house. 108 Mifflin Street.

 _Why did she come here?_

She should just drive away. A part of her knows that if she keeps driving though, she might be tempted to just drive right out of town. So before she has time to question her motives further, she is walking up the path and knocking on the door to the mansion.

Regina answers the door after one knock.

"Emma?" Regina looks slightly confused but not upset by the appearance of the blonde at the door.

"Hi" she replies in a small voice. Almost as timid as the first time they met.

"Would you like to come in?" Regina asks, looking even more confused by Emma's behavior by the second.

Emma simply nods in response and proceeds inside.

"How about something to drink?"

Again Emma just nods in agreement as the pair make their way into the kitchen. Regina immediately makes herself busy getting out cups and preparing their drinks. Emma sits on a stool and watches the older women, but not really focusing due to her jumbled thoughts.

That's why she is startled when a mug is placed in front of her. She looks down at it and gives a little smile.

"Hot Chocolate?"

"Yes dear you look…distressed. And hot chocolate always made Henry feel better when he was upset as a child."

Emma directs the smile at Regina now as the brunette sits down on the stool next to her. They sit in silence and sip their drinks for a few minutes. Finally Regina's curiosity takes over.

"Not that you aren't always welcome here dear, but do you want to tell me why you came by today?"

"I…I don't know why" Emma responds. _Why was she here?_ She asks herself again.

"Okay…well why don't you start with telling me why you look so upset."

Emma sighs deeply "Killian asked me to marry him"

The shock on Regina's face could not be hidden before she collects her features. But it was more than shock. _Was it irritation?_

"Well" she says once she collects herself "I would congratulate you but I'm assuming by the fact that you're here sulking that you said no"

"I told him that I would have to think about it."

" I see"

"I do love him but… I don't know if I'm ready for that step, you know? I was honestly so shocked when he asked me. And I wanted to flee but not just because I was scared but also because I started to become irrationally angry. Which is not an uncommon occurrence lately. But all that hatred and anger I had toward him while I was the Dark One was just brought back up again. I needed to leave before I ended up hurting him more than I already have."

"Emma" Regina says softly as she gently places left hand on top of Emma's right. "It's perfectly normal for you to still feel the pull of darkness. You've done an amazing job so far in your recovery."

Emma stares at their hands for a moment before she responds.

"I still have nightmares every night." She finally says in a small voice "And I still don't like being around people very much. I know I've been pulling away from everyone but it's just so hard to look them in the eye knowing all the horrible things I've done."

Silence fills the room again, but Regina can sense that the younger woman isn't finished with her thoughts yet so she doesn't interrupt.

After several moments Emma continues, " That's why Hook proposed. He said that he wanted me to know that he would be there for me during this hard time. Which is incredibly sweet but… I don't want him to comfort me. It's great to know that he is there if I need him, but I don't. "

This time when Emma is finished Regina knows her thought is complete so she responds.

"I think to be in love you have to need that person. Whether it's for support emotionally, physically, or financially. Maybe you need them to boost your confidence, or share the work of raising a child, or to just be there to listen to your problems and understand them." Regina pauses before continuing, " I'm not trying to insinuate that you don't care about him…but maybe because you have family and friends around you, you don't feel that you really need him around."

Emma processes Regina's words carefully. She's not sure if she needs Killian or not. The thought of him dying in that alternate reality had been truly heart wrenching. Yet, Regina had almost died as well. And watching their grieving son on top of her own sorrow had made Regina's alternate reality death so much worse.

While Emma is lost in thought, Regina gets up and clears their cups away. She washes them and starts to pull out ingredients for dinner; all the while she is lost in her own thoughts from the conversation. She was never the pirate's biggest fan and she feels that Emma could do so much better, but if he is whom Emma wants than who is she to judge. She really wants Emma to have her Happy Ending…but she can't help but think about the fact that it was herself, not the pirate, who ultimately had saved Emma from the darkness. When Emma had tried to thank her, she responded that she was only repaying the favor. But Regina knows that no matter what the circumstance of the other woman becoming the dark one, she would have fought like hell to save her.

"If Robin proposed…would you accept?" The question seems so out of the blue, and it immediately pulls Regina from her thoughts.

"To be honest I'm not sure" She replies tentatively. "Marriage didn't exactly work out for me so well the first time."

"But if you're in love this time, shouldn't it be different?" Emma asks

"One would think but…" Emma can't see Regina's face as she says this but she notices that the brunette has stopped chopping the onions, which she had pulled out for dinner. " I didn't hate King Leopold when we were first married. I may have resented him slightly for having any part in my separation from Daniel but when we first met…he was nice. Even after we were married he was nice to me for a while. However, I quickly grew to resent him more and more. I was never a priority to him. He ignored me most of the time. Snow was his world; which of course didn't help my growing animosity toward her any. She was his daughter and it made sense, but I wasn't even his second priority. He barely gave me a second thought, especially after he realized that I could not produce an heir…" she sighs heavily "I just never want to be put into that role again." After a beat she continues. "It is one of the reasons that it was so easy for me to accept magic lessons from Rumple. I felt like a priority to him. He paid attention to me because, however misguided his reasons were, he believed in me and my powers. Plus, having magic… I was able to put myself first even if no one else was going to." She finishes softly

"You think that you're not Robin's top priority?" Emma asks skeptically…and a little angrily if she was being honest. How could he make Regina feel that way?!

"I know Roland and this new baby come first, as well they should, but after everything that happened with Marian/Zelena I can't help feeling like I'm not even his second choice. I constantly feel guilty for wanting him to choose me."

"That's really not fair to you Regina!" Emma says a little more forcefully than necessary. She takes a deep breath to calm down before continuing. " I know you love him, but if he makes you feel this way, than why are you still with him?"

"First it's because I know he _does_ love me…but really it's the fairy dust getting to my head. If I can't make it work with the person I am destined by magic to be with, than what chance do I have of ever finding my Happy Ending?" Regina finally turns around as she says this and Emma can see the pleading look in her eyes.

"Regina that fairy dust is bull shit!" Emma exclaimed. Regina raised her eyebrows in shock and concern for all of Emma's sudden outbursts.

"Breathe through it Emma" She says as she walks over to the blonde and puts a hand on her shoulder.

Emma instantly feels more relaxed. The hand on her shoulder grounds her. So she breathes deeply. Still warily watching her, Regina takes her hand and leads her over to the sofa so they can sit more comfortably.

"What I meant to say," Emma starts again once they are sitting "is that maybe the fairy dust is irrelevant"

"But fairy dust is never wrong?"

"I know that but…honestly Regina, when did Tinkerbell use that dust on you? Almost forty years ago? A lot has happened since then." Emma sighs and then starts listing all the major events in Regina's life. Counting them off on her fingers. "The King's death, the Curse, adopting Henry, The curse breaking, your mother coming back, and then another curse, your sister, gaining light magic, saving me, accepting all of us Charmings as a sort of Family-"

"A Family?" Regina scoffs

"Yes" Emma says bluntly. She leaves no room for argument. She knows how Regina feels about them whether the brunette will ever admit it or not.

"What I'm trying to say is that…do you really think you are the same person you were all those years ago? Is Robin? Yeah maybe if you had met him at that moment in the Enchanted Forrest you would have been able to run away and he would have kept you from dark magic. And you clearly have a connection so maybe he is destined to be in your life in some way…but maybe just not in the way you thought." Emma looks into her eyes to gauge Regina's reaction to her words. She really hopes the other women won't be furious, but Emma doubts she will be. Regina has seemed a little…broken. Emma didn't really notice when the Dark One curse first broke, but now she is realizing that Regina had been that way since then. It's like the fire in her has diminished to a flickering flame.

When Regina finally responds it is not to answer Emma's question but to ask one of her own.

"When did we start talking about my relationship? Stop deflecting Emma, and face the reality of your own situation." None of this was said harshly, but there was certainly more power to her voice then their had been. " Does Hook make you a priority?"

Pause

"Yeah…" Emma knows logically that this is true but somehow she still can't get over her irrational anger at Hook for not doing more to save her while she was the Dark One.

"But...?" Regina asks, sensing that Emma has more to say. However when the silence stretches, Regina decides to ask another question. "Is Hook a priority of yours?"

That got Emma's attention. She snaps her head up and looks at the brunette.

Regina can see all different emotions playing out in Emma's eyes. Anger at the accusation. Confusion as she thinks about the question. Then sadness and anxiety. Then the blonde puts her elbows on her knees and rests her head in her hands. Regina lets her sit like that for a few moments until she notices that Emma has started crying lightly.

Despite only having ever hugged the other woman once (Right after they defeated the darkness) she instinctually pulled the woman to herself.

The side hug position was quite awkward but the hug itself felt nice. Emma relaxed under the other woman's hold. Relaxing her body only led to more silent tears to be shed though. Eventually she started to feel ashamed that she is crying to Regina about boy problems. So she fumbles for words, trying to explain to Regina that she is crying about so much more than just Hook.

"I'm just…tired. I'm tired of being angry all the time… I'm tired of having to fight for control of my emotions. I'm tired of having to deny myself of what I want. I'm tired of feeling guilty…even though I know it's what I deserve. And I'm just… physically tired." she chokes out the last words as more tears begin to fall.

Regina pulls Emma even closer so that they are more comfortably resting against the couch. Again, she gives Emma a few moments of peace. She didn't imagine the road to recovery from being the Dark One would be easy, but she had no idea that Emma was this distressed. Whenever she had seen Emma these last two weeks, the other woman had been surrounded by people. Someone was always talking to her and showing her that they care. And although Regina could see that Emma was unusually quiet, she had not shown her pain so obviously. Regina realizes now that Emma was putting up a front to make other people feel better. _Forever the savior, thinking about others over herself._ Regina thinks bitterly.

Regina then notices that the sun has set and the room is significantly darker. How long had they been sitting there? Henry should be home any minute from his after-school book club. She is about to tell Emma that she needs to finish dinner when she sees that the other woman is asleep. Regina gently moves her so that she is lying down, and drapes a throw-blanket over her body. Before Regina leaves she can't help but to stop and appreciate the change in blonde's features. In sleep, Emma almost looks relaxed and happy.

Emma wakes to the sound of silverware gently clanking against plates and a delicious smell that she is really hoping is mashed potatoes. She then remembers where she is, and why, and she groans. However, when she looks down at the blanket on top of her a small smile appears at the thought of Regina taking care of her.

 _They have certainly come a long way._

Emma gets up and makes her way into the kitchen. Henry sees her while setting the table and gives a huge grin

"Hey Ma"

"Hey Kid"

Regina walks in and sets a ceramic bowl filled with corn on the table.

" How was your nap dear?" She asks when she looks up.

"Good…thanks for letting me sleep. I think I really needed it."

"Of course"

Henry looks between his mother's curiously but doesn't comment. They then all sit down to dinner together. Emma is ecstatic to see that there are indeed mashed potatoes on the table, as well as chicken and corn.

Emma expected the dinner to be slightly awkward after having cried on Regina's shoulder less than two hours ago, but it was far from it. Henry chatted away happily, needing very few prompts to continue. Regina and Emma even bickered a little about way Emma was mashing all her food together on her plate before she ate it. It of course disgusted Regina, so Emma began to mush it slow and deliberately just to watch the displeased look on her face.

Overall, it had been a nice, normal, family dinner.

After they had cleared the table, Henry announced that he had a lot of homework to do and so he hugged his blonde mother and ran upstairs.

"How old are you Henry? You know better than to run up the stairs!" Regina called behind him as she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry Mom" he yelled back

Emma chucked at their antics and went to put on her coat.

"You can stay if you'd like." Regina offered as she leaned against the doorframe watching Emma.

"I want to, but unfortunately I think I should go home."

"I suppose we both have a lot of thinking to do"

"Yeah"

Emma is now standing on Regina's doorstep. They are both just staring at each other. Both of their eyes are filled with the compassion and understanding that they have for the other.

Emma realizes that they have been staring a little too long but doesn't know what to say. _How do you say goodbye to someone after the day they had together? Should she hug her?_

"Thanks again Regina" She says as she breaks eye contact. It had become a little too intense for her.

"Anytime dear" Regina responds

" 'Night Regina" Emma says as she turns around to leave.

"Goodnight Miss Swan" Emma hears softly in response as she walks down the path to her car.

As Emma gets into her car to leave she realizes that she is quite possibly more confused than ever. Going to the mansion had done little to help her sort out her jumbled mind, and yet…somehow her heart felt lighter.


	2. The wish list

Just a warning, this is a really long chapter. The three chapters were originally written as one-shots that I decided could be connected really well. This one almost entirely in Regina's point of view.

Again, I do not own the rights to any of these characters.

"Okay Mom, I have a plan to get you to stop moping." Henry says as he walks into the kitchen.

"I do not mope!" Regina defends against her teenage son. She was having a nice, quiet moment this morning until he walked in.

"What do you call laying around the house all day, and refusing to see anyone?" He counters with a smirk. He grabs himself a bowl and starts to make cereal.

"I call it relaxing. Seeing people at work fills my capacity for idiots. I have no strong desires to see anyone else in this town besides you at the moment."

Henry chooses to ignore this comment as he sits down at the counter next to her. They sit in a comfortable silence while he scarves down his breakfast. However, he starts the conversation again while washing his dishes.

"Well regardless, I think I have a plan to help you get your Happy Ending."

She sighs and puts her head in her hand. "I think I'm done with all the "Happy Ending" talk, Henry. I'm tired of trying to find some magical way to find my soul mate and fix my future." She can't help but sound a little bitter. After all, Robin was supposed to be her soul mate and somehow that relationship had been a disaster from the start.

"This plan is perfect than. " He says "No magic involved...well not really."

She raises an eyebrow at him and watches closely as he pulls out a notepad and two pens from the drawer.

"I think the only way you're going to find someone to be with is if you are open to the _possibility_ of finding them." He starts to explain. "I saw this TV program last night that said that if you want something, you have to ask the universe for it. It kind of reminded me of the wish Emma made on her birthday. But they suggested that you have a goal board or desire board so you could physically see everything you want all at once." He opens the notebook to a blank page and starts to writes the date. "I think we should write down all the qualities you want in a partner and then maybe burn the paper. Like to send the wish into the universe."

He looks up at her expectantly. She thinks the idea is ludicrous. Clearly people from a non-magical world had created this sort of ritual to make themselves feel like they have control over the powers of fate and destiny. She can't bring herself to crush Henry's idea though. He is only trying to help her…and maybe she has been moping a little since her breakup.

"Fine." She says as she stares at the paper.

"Good!" Henry says excitedly. He wasn't sure his mom would go for the idea and is excited that she is playing along…even if it is only for his sake. "So describe your perfect person."

"I don't know, Henry"

"Come on…Okay" He says, as he gets an idea. "What qualities did Daniel or Robin have that you really liked?"

"Well…I liked that Robin was a good father." She starts of slowly "I would want whoever I was with to be good to you and love you. I would want you to get along."

"Okay, good start." He says as he writes it down. "What else?" he questions

"I loved Daniel's sense of humor. He loved my jokes too. I wasn't quite as…bitter back then, but when I would tease him, he always had a quick remark. " She remembers with a smile.

"Okay sense of humor/witty." Henry says as he writes it down. "How about something you didn't like about either of them. Something you would want to be different in the next relationship?"

Regina sighs again. "I suppose I feel like Robin never really understood me. Sure, he was a thief, but he was never really a villain. I don't need a villain…but I would want someone who could not only accept that I use to be dark but understands how I could have become that way to begin with. Robin always just blindly accepted my past and never asked questions. He didn't know me as the Evil Queen and couldn't possibly understand how much work it's taken to not be her anymore." She says

"We were also raised quite differently and I think that resulted in our parenting techniques being different too. " She adds as an afterthought.

Regina is beginning to feel self-conscious. The atmosphere is starting to feel like a therapy session; with her venting and Henry diligently listening and making notes. Before she could call the whole thing off though Henry starts to speak again.

"What else?"

"I really don't know Henry…"

"How about…" He interrupts her before she can get too far and stop things. "A quality that you really admired in another person. Someone who you haven't dated."

Regina's thoughts immediately go to Emma's sacrifice in becoming the dark one. It had truly been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

"I would like them to be brave. To fight with me and for me."

"Good…anything else?"

The words Emma said to her before she absorbed the darkness still ring in her ears. It's no surprise that she had them committed to memory. How many times had she had thought about them in the days after the event?

"I would want them to believe in my goodness. To believe that I deserve a happy ending." She says as she finishes. There is a moment where they both reflect before Henry breaks the silence.

"I think we have all the important things." He says "Unless you have anything more to add…"

"Nope. Can I see the list?" She asks.

He rips out the page from the notebook and hands it to her. Regina reads the following:

Relationship:

Single

Good-looking

Henry Approved

Sense of Humor

Understanding

Brave

Belief in goodness

"Henry I never said some of these thing!" She chastises

"Hey, you want them to be single right? We wouldn't want another Robin situation." He says, not apologetic in the least.

"What about good-looking?" She asks, "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"

"Of course not." He quickly reassures her "I just figured that if you were going to make a wish, you might as well wish for everything."

He takes the page back from her and examines it for a moment. Then a huge smirk appears on his face.

"What?" His mother asks suspiciously

"You know who this list describes, don't you?" He says while trying not to laugh

"Who?" Regina questions. Her voice filled with genuine curiosity.

"Emma"

"What?!"

"Think about it! No where on the list does it say your perfect person has to be a man!" Henry says. This time he can't hold back his laughter at his mother's facial expression. It's a mix between shocked and 'you're crazy'.

"No Henry, I won't." She says as she finally gets over the initial shock. "Besides your mother is not single."

"Yeah she is." He quickly corrects her. "She ended things with Hook yesterday."

This comes as news to Regina. She hadn't heard anything about the blonde's relationship since Emma told her about the proposal almost two weeks ago _. Why does the news make her so happy though?_ She supposes it's because she never liked the pirate who had helped Greg and Tamara torture her, around her son.

"Be that as it may, it does not mean Miss Swan is my Happy Ending."

"Why not?" Henry says. He had initially only been teasing his mother, but the more he thinks about it, the more it would make sense for his mothers to be together. "You're friends…she's fought the darkness just like you…she has fought for your happy ending…you guys do some powerful magic when you're together…and you both make lame jokes." He lists

"Henry" She huffs

"Hey, don't worry about it." He says, seeing that she is not being receptive right now. He's hoping that he planted the idea though and that she'll think about it later. "Let's get to the second part of the process." He gets up and takes a candle from the hall closet and sets it on the counter. "Light 'em up" He requests.

Regina rolls her eyes at his antics but lights the candle anyway with a simple flick of her wrist. Henry folds up the paper until it's a tiny square and then hands it back to her.

Without fanfare Regina holds the paper over the flame until she can't hold it any longer. Then she hurriedly drops it into the jar. They both watch as the paper shrivels up disappears, leaving only small pieces of ash behind.

"Are we done here Henry?" His mother asks "You're going to be late for your last day of the school year."

"One last thing for now." He says

"Yes?" she asks cautiously

"Well as we said before, you have to be an active member in your quest to live find Happy Ending. So, for the next few days I'm going to give you a task to help you along."

"And what, may I ask, will these tasks entail?"

"Today's task is to talk to as many strangers as possible. If your perfect match is in Storybrooke," ( _and not emma,_ he adds silently _)_ than chances are you haven't met them yet." He explains. Then as an afterthought her adds "And try to be nice to them."

"Fine Henry. I will try my best." She says as she makes her way into the hall. "We really do have to go now though."

"Okay" He says and gives her a quick hug. "We can talk about how it went tonight!" He says as he runs out the door and to the bus stop.

Regina watches him go with a shake of her head. _What have I gotten myself into?_

"So…how did it go today?" Henry asks once they are sitting down to dinner that night.

Regina simply responds with a disgusted noise in her throat before taking another sip of water.

"That bad huh?" Henry says with a chuckle

Regina thinks about her day. By the time she had arrived at city hall, she had almost forgotten about Henry's task; that is until she was faced with two of the buildings security guards. She passed by them almost everyday on her way into the office but never even acknowledged their existence. She almost didn't say anything to them today either, but she knew Henry would be expecting her to have some news for him once she got home.

"Hello gentlemen" She greeted the two men. They were both very tall with short black hair. One had a mustache that was starting to grey, but other than that, they looked fairly similar. She thinks they may have been guards in her castle in the Enchanted Forrest.

"Madam Mayor" The mustached one says, while the other inclines his head.

"How are you this morning?" She asks trying to make polite small talk.

They both respond with a "fine" and continue to stand silently at the door.

"Well it looks as though you have a job to do, so I'll be going then." She says

They barely acknowledge that she has even spoken again as she moves past them to the door. _They certainly are a bag of laughs, aren't they?_

Regina recounts this story to Henry and he continues to laugh from before.

"Those are the only strangers you talked to? He asks

"I didn't see many people at work today. I did wave at a woman walking her dog when I was walking out of City Hall, but she looked a little wary by the gesture and urged her dog to continue on."

In truth Regina had been a little hurt by the woman's obvious distrust of her. Hadn't she save the town multiple times? But Regina knew that people wouldn't get over all of her past misdeeds that quickly. And she had to admit, at least the woman only looked mildly skeptical, and not completely terrified.

"Well it's good that you're trying. I think your task for tomorrow is to get out of your office for a little while. I still think you should talk to more people, but clearly your work doesn't give you a great variety."

"All right Henry." She responds less than enthusiastically.

The next day was turning out even worse than the first. She had again attempted to talk to the two security guards, which ended with about as much progress as the first conversation. Then a man came in from the waste removal facility to talk to her about the documents she had sent their office last week. He gave her such an attitude, you would think he didn't know that she was only a Queen, but one with enough magic to kill him with the flick of her wrist. Her promise to try and be nice to these people was being tested by the second. He continued to rant until she thought she might have to call one of the two mute guards to come and escort him out of the building. _There is a joke in there somewhere about taking his job and "removing shit" from her office._ Her thoughts focused on formulating such a joke as the man refused to let up. Finally the man left once her next appointment came in.

A younger man with glasses and a faded plaid jack strolled into her office. He was actually quite handsome, if Regina was being honest. However, any hope she had that this man might be her perfect match was immediately crushed. The fist words out of his mouth were:

"Those dam kids, keep tee-peeing my house! I want them arrested!"

 _Hates kids_ Regina mentally checked off him off her list. There is no way she'd want him around Henry.

"Have you talked to the Sheriff's office about this?" She said, already exasperated by this conversation.

"I have talked to Sheriff Swan on multiple occasions about this problem and she seems to think that there isn't one!" He said as he got more worked up.

"I can't imagine that is true. What exactly did she say?"

"She said that next time it happened that I should call her, because they are constantly running out of toilet paper at her parents house and she would be more than happy to take some off my hands." The man huffed.

Regina had to fight pretty hard to keep her face neutral. Inside she was laughing at the comment. Knowing how this man is, she could only imagine the attitude that Miss Swan had eventually given him.

"I will talk to her about it. Although this town has no intention of arresting children for pulling harmless pranks." She ended the conversation by escorting the man to her office door.

He didn't seem pleased but he left with much less resistance than the first man.

That morning Regina had decided that in order to fulfill her request to leave her office, she would have lunch at Granny's. Even though she is clearly meeting more people at work today; she decides that a break is in order anyway.

When she arrives at Granny's a few minutes later, the place is packed _. Who knew a Thursday afternoon would be so busy?_ Much to her dismay there was almost no place to sit. After a quick scan, she sees a stool at the bar in between an old man and a girl with a one-year-old child. She decides that she could find much worse company in this town and sits down to place her order.

The young woman seems startled to see Regina sitting so close to her, but doesn't comment.

"Hello…who is this handsome boy?" Regina coos to the baby.

"This is Sam." The mom responds, while she looks curiously at Regina.

"He's very sweet."

"Thanks…he's not mine. I'm a nanny."

"Oh…it seems like a great job if you get to spend the day with him." _Good with other peoples children. Check._

"Yeah I'm super lucky to be able to find work. Most people in town took their jobs back that they had in the first curse, but I came with the second so there weren't many options."

"That gives me an idea," Regina says finally looking up at the girl. "I should to set up a job placement programs for those like you who weren't prepared for the second curse."

"I suppose that's the least you could do..." The young woman says as she focuses her attention on the food being placed in front of her.

The woman's comment wasn't particularly malicious, but it was bitter enough for Regina to feel it was the end of that conversation. _Believes I've changed. No check_.

Then Ruby makes her way over to Regina to get her order. Regina has half a mind to get her food to-go but she doesn't want to go back to her work just yet.

She waits for her food in silence for a few moments before the man next to her speaks up.

"It's good to see you out and about, Madam Mayor."

"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting?"

"Ahh, we have actually. It was so many years ago though that I did not expect you to remember. My name is Harold…Sir Harold in the Enchanted Forrest. I was a knight for your father's house in my younger days. I met you a few times when you were just a child. "

Regina racks her brain trying to remember this man from her past but comes up short. She imagines that he must have looked quite different in his younger days. Perhaps he had a full head of hair… and hair that wasn't completely gray.

"Well than, it's nice to see you again." She says as her iced tea arrives.

Just then she hears her name being called from across the room. She looks up and sees a certain blonde Sherriff getting into a booth with her mother. She is waving Regina over to their table.

"If you'll excuse me." She says to the man, before getting off of her stool.

"I'd better be going anyway." He responds. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" she says, and for the first time that day, she actually means it.

She makes her way over to the booth and looks at Emma. She hasn't seen the blonde in a while, and she is displeased to see that Emma looks as though she hasn't been sleeping.

"Come and eat with us." Emma says in a voice that sounds too chipper for her current appearance.

It shouldn't be that surprising of an offer really. They are friends. However, Regina still isn't use to having friends who would spend time with her simply because they want to.

"Thank you." She says as she slips into the booth next to Snow.

Ruby brings over her drink from the counter and takes the other women's orders.

"I'm sorry to hear about your break-up Regina. But don't give up hope. I'm sure you'll find your happy ending." Snow says once the waitress leaves.

Regina glares at the woman next to her. _Of course she would immediately bring up the one thing I don't want to talk about._ She may not hate Snow anymore but that doesn't mean that the other woman doesn't still annoy her most of the time.

Before Regina can even respond though, Emma interjects.

"I think if we've learned anything it's that "finding someone" does not equal "Happy Ending". She says it a bit more forcefully than she probably would have before dark curse.

"I'd have to agree." Regina says. She is grateful that Emma has saved them from the awkwardness of the conversation.

"Yeah just look at me and Hook." Emma continues, visibly trying to calm down. Regina thinks that she must be taking anger management lessons.

"We broke up on Tuesday." Emma further informs Regina.

"I had heard. I'm sorry. I'm sure it was for the best though." Regina says. She can't help but feel relieved that the pirate is no longer in their lives. Because she is resigned to the fact that anyone who is in Emma's life will be in hers also.

"Yeah." Is the only response Emma offers. However, what Emma wants to do is thank Regina. When Emma had found out that Regina had broken up with Robin, it had given her the courage to end things with Hook. If Regina could end things with her supposed "soul mate" because the situation didn't feel right, than she could surely do the same with her non-magical love connection.

"So, where is baby Neal today?" Regina asks to change the subject.

"David brought him, along on the boys day that he is having with Henry to celebrate the start of summer."

"With the hair cut you have I would think they would have invited you along on their boys day." Regina mumbles as she takes a drink.

Even though she mumbled, the comment is intentionally still loud enough that both women could hear. Mary Margret gives her and offended scoff , while Emma bursts out into laughter.

"You're the one to cut my hair in the first place!" Snow says. She sounds offended but Regina could tell she wasn't actually that upset by the comment.

"Yes dear, and sometimes I think that the shorter your hair gets, the more I like you." Regina responds.

"That's funny." Emma comments. "I was just thinking the opposite about you."

Now it's Regina's turn to look slightly offended.

"It's true." Emma says, clearly not put off by Regina's reaction. "The longer your hair gets, the nicer you become."

Regina wants to give a scathing retort but she finds that she can't. Despite herself, she feels her lips pulling into a smile. Emma's responding smile makes it worth the lack of a satisfactory comeback. Regina realizes that this is the second time in one day that her son's other mother has made her want to laugh.

Henry's words from the day before come back to her. She knows it's ridiculous to think that Emma is her "perfect" match, but she has to admit that the other woman does make a wonderful friend.

 _Sense of humor. Check._ Regina begrudgingly thinks to herself.

The rest of the lunch is spent having an agreeable chat about everyone's respective work. When Regina goes back to her office that afternoon she feels much better about her day. Nevertheless, she doesn't feel like talking to any more new people today and tells her secretary not to let anyone bother her.

Regina has dinner alone that night since Henry is still out with his grandfather. It's a pretty lonely experience, being in the big house by herself. Sometimes she likes to be alone. In fact, she used to love it as a small child. That was probably because the solitude meant that Cora wasn't actively ruining her day though. Still, after a day being spent around so many people, she finds she misses the company tonight.

She finds herself on the sofa, with a book in her hand, as she waits for Henry to get home. The book however, is left unread on her lap. She's thinking about her day, knowing Henry will demand to know all about it. She can't help but think that the only good part of the day had been her lunch with Emma and Snow. They were truly becoming…a family. Regina wonders if this sense of "Home" will grow to be enough of a Happy Ending on its own.

"Hi Mom!" Henry says as he busts though the door.

"Hello Henry." She gets up to give her son a hug. They then both sit on the sofa together. "How was your fist day of summer vacation?" She asks

"It was so awesome. Gramps took Neil and me on a hike and we had like a picnic in the woods but we cooked some of the food over a fire that we made ourselves. Did you know there was a waterfall in Storybrooke?" He says excitedly

"I did, in fact. Although I've never been there myself." She says. She's happy her son had such a good day.

" It was so cool. We should go sometime!"

"Maybe."

"Come one! You could even poof us there if you don't want to hike in the woods all day! And we could go swimming in the lake by the waterfall!"

"Okay Henry, maybe this Saturday." She doesn't desire to do any of those activities, but she wants to keep Henry this excited.

"Cool! So, how did your day go?" He immediately starts to question her.

"Overall it wasn't too bad." She starts, "I am getting tired of trying to be friendly to strangers though. They're all idiots and all they do is complain. The only nice person I met was an old man that use to know my father."

"That's good progress!" Henry says, not discouraged by his mother's other comments. "Remember, these tasks aren't only meant to help you find your perfect match, they are meant to better your life. To help you find people who can share in your Happy Ending." Henry reminds her.

"You're right." She concedes as she gives him another hug. "I think it's time for me to go to bed. What is my task for tomorrow?" She asks as she gets up to leave the room.

"Hmmm." He says as he thinks. "I think you should continue to talk to new people, but I also think you should try and have a more personal conversation with someone. Try and get to know them."

"I'll try." She responds as usual.

The next day, Regina immediately tries the new "get to know" someone task. If she's being honest with herself, she's starting to enjoy the tasks a little. They are like a game that keeps her day interesting.

"Hello gentlemen." She greets the two guards on the way in. Her Mayor persona is already firmly in place.

They both nod their head in recognition. Today, Regina won't let them get away with that though.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. As I'm sure you know, I'm Regina." She says as she sticks out her hand for them to shake. Neither man's stoic facial expression changes as she speaks.

"Christian." The mustached man says as he gives her hand a quick shake.

"Carl." The other man says.

"I appreciate that you men come in so early to work. I'm sure you'd much rather be sleeping." She comments, hoping to spur a conversation.

Both men just shrug their shoulders as if their sleep didn't mean anything to them one way or another.

This is the last straw for Regina for today. With a sigh she bids them a good day and makes her way to her office.

The rest of the day followed in much the same manner. Someone would call, or stop by, to complain about god knows what, and Regina would try to deal with them in a patient and friendly fashion. If someone was receptive to her friendly tone she would try to further the conversation, but the other person would end up saying something completely idiotic or rude and ruin it.

That's why, when she heard a knock on her office door around 2pm her immediate response was less-than welcoming.

"What?!" She snaps at the sounds

"Geeze, sorry." The person says. Regina's head snaps up as she recognizes the voice.

"Oh thank god it's you." She can't help the words from slipping out of her mouth upon seeing her son's other mother walk through the door.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say that." Emma says with a laugh.

She comes in a sits down on the other side of Regina's desk.

"What has your knickers in a twist?" Emma asks

"This town is full of idiots." She responds

"Yeah, what else is new?" Emma says "Why is it a problem today?"

"I promised Henry that I would be nice, and try to get to know some new people."

"Ahh" Emma responds. Regina knows that Emma understands how persuasive Henry can be. She is quite possibly the only other person who he could rope into doing something they so wholeheartedly did not want to do.

 _Loves Henry_. She thinks begrudgingly as she checks another item off the mental list.

"Yes well it's all apart of his latest attempt to get me my Happy Ending." She adds. She's not sure why she is compelled to tell Emma about this. _Maybe it's because your friends._ She tries to convince herself.

"What does this new operation of his entail?" Emma asks

"We never actually called it an operation…but I suppose it's similar." She says pondering the idea. "First he had me write down all of the qualities I would want in a partner and then burn the paper."

"What type of wicken nonsense has he been watching on TV?" Emma asks

"I was wondering where he got the idea as well. I suppose it was the process of reflecting on all the qualities that he was focusing on."

"Yeah I guess that's smart. What else did you do?"

"Henry has given me a task everyday that involves getting to know more people and being nice to them."

"Ahh. Which has evidently has not been going so well."

"Clearly."

"Well, I think this is a good thing. If I can do anything to help just let me know. You deserve a Happy Ending…and I still never really fulfilled my promise to find you one."

 _Believes in my happy ending. Check._ Each time Regina checks an item off her mental list it becomes easier to do so.

"I think you've done more than enough for me."

"Nah, it's what friends do."

"Friends…"

"You basically told me that your Happy Ending included me when I was under the Dark curse and now you're going to try and deny that we're friends!?"

"I wasn't going to deny it. The word just seems…insufficient in describing our relationship."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Perhaps it's because we share a child?"

"We're all sorts of family, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, you're also kind of my best friend."

"Oh"

"I never really had any friends besides Lilly and then Mary Margaret, and look how both of them turned out."

"I understand dear, I never really had friends either. In fact…you're still one of my only friends."

 _Understands each other. Check._

"Does mean I'm _your_ best friend?"

"By default, I suppose."

"That's good enough for me."

After that there is a pause in the conversation as both women think about how they could have possibly ended up best friends.

"Did you come in today for a reason?" Regina asks, realizing Emma must have had a purpose other than to talk about Regina's Happy Ending.

"Right! I was wondering if you and Henry had plans this weekend."

"He did mention wanting to take me to the waterfall that he saw with your Father tomorrow."

"Oh. Okay. That sounds fun." Emma sounds like she means this, but Regina thinks she also sounds a little disappointed.

"Would you like to come with us?" Regina asks

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your mother-son bonding time." Emma hastily replies.

"It would still technically be mother-son bonding time if you came too." She reminds the other woman.

"I guess your right." Emma concedes with a chuckle. "What time are you going?"

"How about you meet us at our house at 8."

"I can do that." Emma says and gets up to leave.

Regina doesn't know why but she doesn't want their conversation to end just yet.

"Emma?" She says when the other woman is almost at the door.

"Yes?" Emma says, turning to face her.

"What's your favorite color?" She blurts out. She's not sure why this question appeared in her mind, but it seemed easy enough.

"I don't really have one. Why?"

"Just trying to fulfill today's task." She responds. It's not technically a lie.

"Okay then…I would have probably said yellow a few years ago-"

"Like your insipid car." Regina interrupts

"Exactly like my beautiful car." Emma responds without missing a beat. "But now, I don't know…purple?"

"Why has it changed?" She asks

Emma shrugsand… _Is she blushing?_ Regina wonders in amazement.

"I really like the shade of your magic." Emma feels embarrassed to admit this and she's not sure why. She decides that it's because magic is so innate to a person, that complimenting on it's color is like complimenting someone's body. She doesn't want her embarrassment to show though so she continues rambling. "Mine is white. That's so boring."

Regina gives her a pleased smile.

"White means it's pure dear. After everything you've gone through you should be proud of it's color." Regina says softly.

"I guess." Emma says. Then she turns to walk to the door once more. "See you tomorrow."

"Yes, Have a nice day dear." Regina adds before the blonde walks out the door.

"So…" Henry begins as they're sitting down to dinner.

"Yes?" Regina says. She knows that he is about to ask her about today's task but feels like putting it off as long as she can.

"What did you learn today?"

"Emma's favorite color is purple." She feels herself smile as she remembers the other woman's reasoning.

"You talked to Emma today?" He says with a mischievous smile.

She rolls her eyes. She is nowhere near close to admitting that she had been thinking about Henry's advice concerning his biological mother. "Yes Henry. In fact, she's going to be coming with us tomorrow on our hike." She informs him.

"Really?! Cool!."

Regina smiles at her son's enthusiasm. "You should call her after dinner and tell her to bring her bathing suit if you want to go swimming in that lake."

"Okay, I will!" He says as he shoves a fork full of macaroni into his mouth.

"You know asking her favorite color is not what I had in mind when I said "get to know" someone" He says once he has swallowed. "Did attempt with anyone else though?"

She tells him about her conversation (or lack of one) with the two mute guards. Henry loves to hear about them. That's probably why Regina tortures herself trying to talk to them everyday.

After dinner, Henry goes right up to his room. He knows he's going to have a tiring day tomorrow and wants to get all of his stuff packed tonight. Regina goes to bed not long after him. She finds that she can't fall asleep due to a nervous feeling in her stomach. _No, not nervous_. She corrects herself. _Anxious._ But no matter how much she tries to convince herself that there is nothing to be anxious about, the feeling doesn't go away.

She slept fitfully that night.

At exactly 8am the next morning there is a knock at the door.

"I'm impressed by your punctuality, Miss Swan." Regina says as she opens the door.

"Good Morning to you too, Regina." The younger woman responds

Regina gives Emma a once over before she lets the other woman through the door. Emma is dressed very similarly to how she was during their trip in Neverland. The only real difference being, that now she had a bathing suit strap peaking out from her tank top.

As soon as they're in the foyer, Henry comes in from the kitchen with a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth.

"Hi ma." He mumbles

"Hey kid." Emma says

"Henry, don't talk with your mouth full." Regina responds at the same time as Emma.

He gives his mothers an apologetic look and returns to the kitchen. He comes back out after only a few moments though, toast free, and ready to leave.

They drive out to a hiking trail about 20 minutes from the mansion. It's close to the edge of town, but as long as they follow the path they won't leave town limits.

The walk itself takes hours though. After about an hour, all of them are sweltering. Eventually even Henry has stopped his constant chatter and is conserving his energy for walking.

It takes about two hours to finally see a break in the trees, which Henry insists is the correct clearing.

When they finally break through the trees, a breathtaking waterfall appears on the other side. And takes their breath away, it does. All three of them stand in silence for a few moments to take in the serenity. Directly in front of them is a small path of gravely sand leading into a small lake. The water of the lake is perfectly clear, and you could see that it must be at lest 30 feet deep.

Cliffs surround the opposite side of the lake. To the right, there is a waterfall cascading off the side. Where the water from the waterfall, meets the water from the lake, an iridescent rainbow appears.

"You created this." Emma finally says quietly. Her awe is evident in her voice.

Regina hadn't thought of it that way, but she supposes that this spot technically wouldn't exist if she hadn't enacted the first curse. She can't think of a proper response to what was obviously a compliment. But she turns toward Emma anyway and finds that the other woman was staring at her. The sheer amazement in Emma's eyes almost causes her to blush.

Thankfully, Henry breaks up their moment when he shouts, "The water is warm!"

He has already kicked off his shoes and water is lapping against his feet.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Emma asks.

Regina immediately sits down on a nearby rock and starts to take off her boots. It turns out to be much more of an annoyance than she had preciously anticipated, as she had laced them up very tight that morning.

She finally kicks them off and looks up. She is momentarily frozen in place. Emma, already stripped down into her yellow bikini, is standing on top of one of the taller cliffs. Before Regina can even begin to imagine what she is doing, or how she climbed up the side so fast, Emma does a perfect Swan dive right into the water. Her muscular body arched in a way that suggests practice.

Regina instinctively stands up as Emma hits the water. When a blonde head breaks the surface again, she releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding. The head is immediately followed by the rest of the woman's, now glistening, body as she swims to the shallow edge of the lake and walks out of the water.

 _Brave and Attractive. Check and Check._

Regina stays frozen as she mentally checks the last item off her list.

 _The list_ does _describe her. But surely that doesn't mean anything. Just because something is perfect on paper, doesn't it's perfect in reality. You should be with someone because of the feelings they invoke in you, not because the relationship makes sense logically._

"Hey, are you alright?" Emma says. Regina hadn't realized how close the other woman had gotten while she was lost in her thoughts. Now, with Emma was so close she would feel her presence.

"I was worried for a minute that we may have to cut this day trip short to bring you to the hospital." And Regina is happy she could formulate a response at all, let alone a sassy quip.

"It's perfectly safe, you should try it." Emma says

"I think I'll stick to swimming for now." She says and moves away from the other woman so she can continue stripping into her bathing suit.

When she's done she joins the others in the water. She has to admit that it is a great temperature. It's cold enough to cool them down after the long hike, but it's warm enough to not be uncomfortable. After a few minutes of swimming Henry decides that he wants to try cliff jumping also. Regina is skeptical of the idea, but she allows it only because both his mothers have magic and could protect him if anything were to go wrong.

He starts by jumping off some off the smaller cliff hangings. It turns out he's actually pretty good at it _. It must be genetics_. She thinks, remembering Emma's perfect dive.

After a few of these jumps, he starts trying to convince Regina to jump too.

"Come on Mom! It's really fun!"

"Yeah Regina, you should try it! I'll even go up to the top with you." Emma offers.

Regina knows that they won't let up until she gives in so she does. Nevertheless she's more than a little reluctant.

Regina pauses at the side of the cliff. She sees the path in a straight uphill climb and suddenly she has that nervous feeling in her stomach again. But she refuses to let that stop her and she starts her trek up. Emma must have sensed her dread though because the next words out of her mouth are: "Is the Ex-Evil Queen afraid of heights? Didn't you use to ride horses?" It's said in a teasing manner but Regina still doesn't appreciate the implication.

"I am not afraid." She says. And she's really not. She knows that her magic will protect her. "I merely don't like heights." She corrects.

"Yeah, sure." Emma says in a disbelieving tone.

"I did almost fall to my death once." Regina says, to justify her trepidation.

"Really?" Emma says, intrigued.

"Yes. Tinkerbell saved me. That's how we met." She explains as they reach the top of the cliff.

"Well you don't have to jump if you're uncomfortable. I won't make fun of you…at least not too much." Emma says honestly.

Regina doesn't even dignify that with a response. She simply turns toward the cliff and unceremoniously jumps off the side. She has no idea if she's supposed to brace herself, or point her toes, or anything, so she simply holds her breath and hopes for the best.

As soon as she surfaces from the water she feels a splash somewhere close by and assumes Emma has jumped too.

"Wasn't it awesome!" Henry says as he practically attacks her with a hug in the water.

"I wouldn't use the word awesome," She says, "but it wasn't terrible."

The rest of the morning/afternoon is spent swimming and laying around eating the fruit salad that Regina brought with them. This led to Emma grumbling about how "Of course Regina would only bring healthy snacks." and earning a glare from the brunette.

Overall, by the time they decided to head back, it was almost two in the afternoon and they were thoroughly exhausted. The sun and exercise wore them out.

"Can you poof us to the car?" Henry asks.

Regina rolls her eyes at the term "poof" but accepts that this is the terminology that will be used from now on.

"I think I may be too tired." She admits

"Here" Emma says and holds out her hand to Regina.

"What?" Regina asks, confused by the gesture.

"We'll do it together." Emma explains as she takes her and Henry's hand.

Regina feels the familiar spark as Emma grabs her hand. She tries to focus on the destination as their magic takes hold. Suddenly they are next to Regina's Mercedes, and Regina is even more exhausted than before. She leans against the car for a few moments before getting in the drivers seat.

"Are you okay to drive?" Emma asks once she slides into the passenger's seat.

"You're not driving my car, Miss Swan." She responds as she starts the car.

Emma simply laughs.

"Thanks for inviting me. I had fun." Emma says when they get back to the mansion. Regina notices that she is starting to make a bee-line for her bug and grabs her arm to stop her.

"You're welcome to stay and have dinner." She offers

"Yeah, stay Ma!" Henry says, encouraged by his brunette mother's offer. _Maybe she is starting to see things my way._ He had noticed that his mother had seemed a little warmer toward Emma today.

"Okay…but only if you agree to order something for dinner. You're too tired to cook." Emma says

"Very well." Regina responds as she unlocks the door and lets them into the house. She would normally snap at anyone who told her what she was feeling, but she couldn't help but be grateful at the concerned suggestion.

It's still way too early to order dinner, and Regina suddenly isn't sure what they should do with all the free-time beforehand.

"I think I need to shower off this forest smell." She says and walks toward the grand staircase.

As she's leaving the foyer she's pretty sure she hears Emma mutter, "Forest smell never seemed to bother her before." to Henry. Henry's responding laugh ended up being much louder than her words though.

She had half a mind to give a scathing retort about the smell of rum, but decided against it.

Once she was showered and presentable she came back downstairs. Emma and Henry sat in the living room playing video games when she walked in. She couldn't help the smile forming on her face.

"You seem to be pretty bad at this game, Miss Swan." She says

Emma gives her a sideways glace and smiles. "He has a lot more practice than I do!" She defends herself. "I think you allow him to play video games too much."

"Hey!" Henry says. "Don't try to get me into trouble just because you're a sore loser."

"I'm not loosing!" Emma insists

"You just did!" Henry nearly shouts as his car passes the finish line. He throws his hands up in a show of victory.

"Fine kid, you beat me, happy?" She asks

"Extremely." He says, and picks up his remote again.

However Emma puts hers down and looks fully at Regina.

"You look comfy." Emma says to her.

Regina looks down at herself. She had thought about putting on a dress and heels, but she was home, and tired, and the thought sounded very unappealing. She decided to put on jeans and a lightweight sweater. Now she was questioning her choice.

"Would you like to borrow some clean clothes?" She asks "I know you don't have a problem wearing other people's things." She adds, referring to her gray blouse, currently hanging in her closet.

"I gave that shirt back to you!" Emma defends

"Is that a yes or a no to the clothes?" Regina inquires

"Yes please."

Emma gets up and follows Regina into her bedroom.

"I've never been in here." Emma says unnecessarily.

"I would hope not." Regina responds. Yet, if Regina is being honest with herself, there is a small thrill of showing someone her bedroom. Not many other people have been in there.

"You own sweatpants!" Emma exclaims as they look through the closet.

"Yes, I own one pair of designer sweatpants." She responds much less enthusiastically than her co-parent.

"Can I wear them?" Emma asks as she holds them up. She gives Regina an almost sheepish look.

"Of course. The bathroom is behind us if you want to freshen up. I will be downstairs."

"Thanks." Emma says as she walks into the bathroom.

"Whatcha doing?" Emma asks when she comes back into the living room.

"It's still too early to order pizza, so I figured we could start watching a movie first." Henry says with his back to her. He is riffling though the cabinets of the TV console.

"Sounds good to me." Emma says as she sits on the opposite side of the sofa from Regina.

Henry selects a movie and comes to sit between his two mothers.

A half an hour later, Henry is asleep with his back leaning against Emma and his feet on the coffee table.

Regina had tried for years to break him of this habit, but to no avail.

"Do you have any idea what is happening?" Emma whispers to Regina. While her eyes are still trained on the screen.

"Obviously the blue aliens are winning a battle against the red aliens. They are having a war because the man with the tentacles, presumably ate the human man's bunny." She makes up on the spot. Although it doesn't seem to be too far from the truth.

Emma has to cover her mouth so she doesn't laugh too loudly and wake Henry.

"So you have no idea either, huh?" Emma says in between laughs.

"Of course I don't! This movie is preposterous!" She whispers angrily. Secretly she is pleased to hear Emma's laugh.

"I think your movie would be way better than this." Emma offers, finally facing Regina.

"Perhaps I'll write it one day." Regina muses.

"Can I be in it?" Emma asks

"I don't know if writers get a say in casting, but I'll put in a good word for you." She responds.

Emma contemplates this for a moment and then says, "You're actually really funny when you're not being so standoff-ish."

"How sweet of you to notice." She deadpans

"No, I'm serious. I had a lot of fun today." Emma says. "I think I needed it." She adds after a beat.

"What do you mean?" Regina whispers back. Aware that Emma has said those words to her before.

"Well…this is the first weekend I would have been alone. Henry was with you, and Hook and I aren't together…" Emma says and refuses to look at her again.

All of a sudden Regina remembers why Emma had come into her office yesterday. Emma had wanted to know what her and Henry had plans that weekend, but Regina realizes now that she never asked the other woman why she wanted to know of their plans.

"Ahh" Regina says as she begins to understand the situation.

"Yeah…during the week it wasn't so bad because I had work and my parents to distract me but…"

"There is nothing to distract you this weekend." Regina concludes. "Where are your parents?"

"They have a baby and a social life of their own…plus…they can't really understand the situation…at least not like you could. They're supportive of my decision to break up with Hook but…they've only ever been in love with each other. They don't understand that sometimes loving someone isn't always enough of a reason to be in a relationship with them. "

And Regina does understand. When it's put that way, Emma's situation is not unlike her own regarding Robin. Just because she understands, doesn't mean she knows how to make the blonde feel better though.

Finally she says the only thing she can think of. "Well, anytime you want to get away from the Charming you are more than welcome here…Henry loves when you're around and…I could use the company."

Emma gives her a watery smile, and Regina knows in her heart that she said the right thing.

"I should order the pizza now." Regina says and stiffly gets up from the couch.

Before she can fully leave the room though, she hears a whispered "thank you."

They wake up Henry once the pizza arrives, and Regina allows everyone to eat in the living room, on the condition that the food is eaten over the coffee table and not on the sofa.

"So Henry…" Regina begins, when they start eating. "You never gave me a task for today."

"Oh…I don't think you need the tasks anymore." He says

"Really?" She asks curiously

"Yeah well, I think you should still try and talk to new people and everything but I think I've realized that the only way to have a Happy Ending is to just have it. Start living your life everyday as if you already attained your Happy Ending. Do what you like to do with the people you like, and you'll be happy." He concludes.

Both his mothers stare at him with slack jaws.

"I swear sometimes you're a 60 year old man in a 14 year olds body." Emma finally responds.

"Yes, our son has always been very wise for his age." Regina agrees.

"Well, your son thinks it's wise for us to start the movie again." Henry decides.

"Maybe he's even smart enough to explain the plot to his mothers." Emma wonders aloud.

About an hour and a half later they finish watching the movie. Now that Henry is awake to explain the plot, the two women understand it much more. Although Emma still tells Regina that her movie idea was better.

After the movie, Henry is almost asleep again so his mothers insist that he go upstairs to bed. So following a quick goodbye to Henry, Emma makes her way toward the door.

Regina almost invites Emma to stay a while, but Emma looks exhausted and the last thing Regina needs is for the blonde woman to fall asleep at her house.

Once Emma has her boots on again, she opens the door and stops on Regina's front porch. Regina is having déjà voo because this is almost the exact same position they were in a few weeks ago after Hook proposed.

Just like last time too, neither woman knew how to say goodbye.

"Thanks for today." Emma starts. "I'll make sure I bring you back your pants sometime this week."

"No rush. And thank you for joining us."

"Yeah maybe we could do more stuff together as a family." Emma suggests.

As soon as Emma says family, Regina gets such a strong sense of longing it almost knocks her off her feet. All of a sudden she can picture her future so clearly.

Her, Emma, and Henry, all living at the mansion. Having family dinners, and outings. Emma making her spend time with the Charmings, which she would pretend to hate, but secretly not mind that much. Emma leaning on her while watching a movie. Emma kissing her before she goes off to work…

The images flood Regina's mind in a relentless stream. She ends up grabbing onto the doorframe for support.

She must have been quite for too long because Emma speaks again and sounds more self-conscious than before.

"Okay…I guess I'll see you soon. Goodnight." Emma words help to bring Regina back to reality.

"Good Night Emma…remember anytime you want to come over..." She reminds her.

When Emma smiles brightly and waves goodbye, all Regina can think is:

 _Crap Henry was right._


	3. The Boston Trip

This is the final chapter. It is a pretty long one, but not as long as the last. I hope you enjoyed reading! Please review!

"So, Mom" Henry starts tentatively. His tone immediately catches his adoptive mother's attention.

"Yes Henry?" She asks suspiciously. She could tell he had wanted to talk to her about something all night and she was glad he was finally bringing it up.

"Well, Emma told me today that Miss Finkle, you know Dan and Tom's mom, had called her about all of us spending time together…since I haven't seen them since I left New York… and as like a last hurrah before going back to school, she said that they had made plans for all of us to meet in Boston next weekend…since it's a good halfway point and also kind of a vacation spot…but of course she told me to ask you if it's okay first." Henry rambled through his explanation as quickly as possible, to try and avoid an outburst from his mother.

"Of course you can go Henry" She is a little sad when she thinks about his life during their year apart, but she couldn't begrudge him time with his two best friends of that year.

Even though her words were meant to reassure him, he still looked a bit uneasy. And she was about to ask what was wrong when he decided to tell her first.

"I was hoping you could come with us."

"Oh" She's can't help but be pleased by her son's admission but she was a bit wary herself about going on a trip with him and Emma. "I'm sure Emma wouldn't appreciate me taking her time with you away."

"I already asked her and she thought it was a great idea to invite you." He hurries to reassure her.

"Really?"

"Yeah her exact words were 'that's a good idea kid, she'd be more than welcome to come along'." He recounts her words

"I suppose if you want me there, then I will be there."

That Saturday when Emma came over to pick up Henry for the weekend, she came inside to discuss the exact plans with Regina.

"Okay so we are planning on leaving early on Friday morning." Emma explains as he takes the coffee that other woman is offering her. "Then stay over Friday night and Saturday night and then leave again on Sunday morning. Can you take off of work next Friday?" Emma asks.

"Yes, I think I can work it out."

"Great, I'll pick you up around 6:30"

"Oh no, you won't!"

"What do you mean I won't?"

"I am not willingly going on another road trip in that deathtrap with you. I'll drive"

"My car is perfectly fine!"

"This isn't up for argument Miss Swan."

"Fine"

After their 'non'-argument, Henry comes in and clears his throat.

"I have a question." he starts. "Who is my mom supposed to be?" Henry asks

"What do you mean kid?" Emma and Regina both look, more than a little confused by the question.

"I mean, how am I supposed to introduce my mom? They only know you as my mother." He says to Emma "They don't know about all the adoption and magic and other craziness." He explains further.

"Ah" The gears start to click into place for both his mothers at that point.

"I suppose I could be your Aunt?" Regina suggests unhappily.

"I guess, but Debbie knows me pretty well. I was the closest to her than any of the other parents because we were both single moms. She knows that I grew up in the foster system. So unless you are like some long lost sibling who looks nothing like me, than I don't see that working out." Emma explains.

"I could just be a family friend then?"

"I guess that could work…" Emma says skeptically.

"But I want to be able to introduce you to them as my mom!" Henry practically whines. "I don't want to have to remember to call you Regina the entire weekend. It would feel too weird anyway."

"I don't know if we can avoid that Honey." Regina says sadly as she puts her arm around the boy.

"Well…" Emma starts. Regina can see that Emma is both a little embarrassed and nervous about finishing the thought.

"Well, what dear?"

"We could pretend to be married?" Emma's suggestion ends up coming out as a question due to her uncertainty

"Married?"

"Yeah, it would kind of clear up a lot of questions they might have. Like who you are and why you came with us. You and Henry also wouldn't have to act any differently because it would be logical for him to call you 'mom' and stuff. It would also help explain why we had decided to stay in Storybrooke." Emma explains her reasoning and finds that Henry is beaming at her.

"That's perfect!"

"Wouldn't you have told you're friends already if your mother had gotten married?" Regina interjects. She is not opposed to the idea, quite the contrary, but she still wants to work out the logistics of it.

"Maybe, but it's not like I've really had time to have an actual conversation with them since we moved back here. We mostly just text about new video games or if something crazy happened to a mutual friend." He explains, not willing to admit that there are any flaws to this plan.

"Okay" Regina agrees

"Okay?" Emma asks surprised. She wants to make sure she heard correctly.

"Yes, that sounds like the best plan. Don't you agree? It was your idea after all?"

"Of course it was. My ideas are the best." Emma says with faked arrogance. She is happy Regina took the suggestion so well. Now, actually pretending to be a couple would be a whole other battle.

6.30 that next Friday came by quicker than Regina would have thought. She had been in a slightly nervous state all week thinking about it. She was going to be pretending to be married to Emma! It was hard enough to be in the same room as the other woman lately and not tell her how she felt. Because without a doubt, she knew she was in love with Emma Swan. She had tried to get over what she had originally considered a "crush" but in the last few weeks she had found her feelings harder and harder to deny. It had gotten to the point where even Henry could tell, and was blatantly leaving them alone together whenever he could.

How was she going to survive a whole weekend pretending to be her wife?

With a flutter in the pit of her stomach, she answers the doorbell. Emma is standing there smiling at her. It's late August and despite the early morning chill, the woman is wearing short shorts and a tank top. She holds a duffle bag with a flannel on top in her right hand.

Regina tries her best not to stare.

"Good Morning Wifey" Emma says and laughs at the look Regina gives her at that statement.

"Good Morning" Is all she says in response though.

Just then Henry comes running down the stairs with this backpack already on his shoulders. "Morning moms!" He says excitedly as he gets on his shoes.

Regina grabs her to-go mug of coffee from the kitchen. As and after thought she decides to grab one for Emma too and an Orange juice for Henry.

"Thanks" Emma says surprised when one of the cups is handed to her.

"Just don't spill it in my car." Regina can't help but add.

"Yes, your majesty" Emma says with a curtsey

"That was terrible. You have a lot of work to do, Princess"

"Ugh don't call me that!" Emma makes a face at the title.

"Why not? That's who you are."

"Not this weekend. This weekend I'm just Emma Swan. Or Emma Swan-Mills I guess."

Regina quite likes the sound of that name, so she lets the banter drop as they get into the car and leave.

About halfway though the car ride, Henry bolts straight up from the back seat.

"Geez kid, where's the fire?" Emma questions, as she turns to look at him.

"I remembered that I have something for you guys." He states as he digs around in his book bag.

Finally he pulls out a small velvet drawstring bag. Emma was just about to question the kid further when he opens the bag and shakes two, plain, sliver rings onto his palm.

"What are those?" Regina asks. Looking suspiciously at Henry from the rearview mirror.

"If you guys are married than you need wedding bands." He explains. Then he hands them both to his blonde mother.

"Wow kid, these are kind of nice. Where did you get these?"

"I bought them at the second hand shop yesterday. Don't worry, they weren't too expensive…but they also shouldn't turn your fingers green."

Emma just looks at the rings in her palm for a while.

"Well put them on. I want to see if I got the right sizes." Henry insists

Emma sighs and slips one of the bands onto her ring finger. She must have picked the right one because it fits like a glove.

Regina can't help but watch Emma in her peripheral vision. The other woman seems to be having some kind of moment. She isn't sure if it's a happy one or not so she doesn't say or do anything about it. After a few minutes go by, Emma finally holds her hand out to Regina. Regina takes the other ring carefully from the palm. She doesn't want to become to distracted while she is driving so she refuses to look at the ring while she slips it onto her finger. It seems Henry was perfect in both of their ring sizes.

Although Regina may not look at her hand the entire rest of the ride, her left hand feels much heavier than it did before.

They arrive in Boston a few hours later. After a quick check-in they make their way to their room to drop of their baggage. Henry runs into the room and straight to the en suite. (As he'd been complaining of a full bladder for nearly an hour now) Meanwhile, Emma and Regina stand perfectly still in the doorway staring at the two double beds.

"I didn't really think about the sleeping arrangements." Emma admits. "I had made these reservations before I knew if you were coming along or not."

"No, it's my fault. I should have thought to make my own reservations."

"We're supposed to be married though. We wouldn't have wanted anyone to find out that you had gotten your own room, right?" Emma says, more trying to make herself feel better than the other woman.

"Right…"

Just then Henry comes bursting out of the bathroom. "Ready to go! They texted and said they would meet us in the Hotel lobby!"

"We'll deal with the sleeping arrangements later." Regina says dismissively. Emma takes this to mean that she is getting stuck sleeping with Henry but doesn't want to worry about that right now.

Henry practically pushes them all the way down to the Hotel lobby. Once they are finally there, he runs straight up to two ginger boys and they all high-five.

The women make their way over to the group and Emma claps one of the boys on the shoulder. "Hey Dan…Hey Tom" She always addresses both the boys at once because she is never positive which twin is which.

"Hi Miss Swan" They say in almost unison

"Emma it's so nice to see you." A tall woman (even taller than Emma) with red hair addresses Emma in a New York accent.

"Debbie! Hi…you too" Emma says as she gives her a quick hug. "This is Regina." she adds with a flourish of her hand toward the brunette.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Debbie says as she pulls Regina into a hug also. Regina is a little startled by this but she's already started to slip into polite "Mayor mode" and doesn't let it show.

"For me as well. Henry talks about your boys constantly."

"Yes, I'm sure they are never good stories." She says with a chuckle. "Gotta love 'em, but they sure aren't little gentlemen like Henry." She compliments.

After the entire introduction they decide to make their way into the city. Emma and Henry insist that they are 'starving', so they decide to make their first stop should be Quincy Market. Regina is a little overwhelmed by the food choices.

Henry is already seen eating a cannoli from one of the bakery stalls. Regina wants to reprimand him for eating junk food so early in the morning but she has resolved herself to the fact that he would eat very poorly this weekend. Instead of arguing about it, she just makes sure he eats actual food to go along with his dessert.

Emma watches Regina with interest. To her, Boston is nothing special, so it's fascinating to see the city through the eyes of a tourist. She loves the way Regina's eyes widen with interest when she sees a particular piece of architecture or interesting food item.

While they are searching for food, Emma impulsively grabs Regina's hand. It's her first attempt at trying to play the role of a "couple". She doesn't know what made her do it, but she wanted to _. Couples should hold hands right?_ She justifies to herself.

For her part, Regina doesn't comment about the hand-holding. Emma has half a mind to wonder if the other woman hasn't even noticed. However, Regina gives her hand a squeeze before she pulls her hand away so that she can pay for her Panini. This assures her that Regina knew about, and didn't mind, the contact…and for this, Emma was a little glad _. Maybe being a couple won't be so bad._ Emma thinks.

Eventually they all decide on what they want to eat and sit down.

"So, I was surprised when Emma had said she was bringing her wife on the trip. I didn't think this one would ever settle down." Debbie jokes when they start to eat.

"Yeah well, this one changed my mind I guess." Emma says a little uncomfortably. She knows she's not a great liar, so she tries to keep her answers vague, but honest.

"How did you two meet?" Debbie continues with her line of questioning.

"Ahhh" Emma stumbles for a second

"We met through Henry actually." Regina saves. Emma gives the brunette an incredulous look. _What version of the truth was she going for here?_

"I am the mayor of Storybrooke and when Emma came to town on her case, I was fortunate enough to spend some time him while she was busy." Regina continues. "Let's just say Emma and I did not get along very well at first but...we eventually bonded through Henry.

"He seems to have really taken to you." Debbie interjects

"Yes, he's a wonderful boy. Sometimes I forget that he's not biologically mine." Regina says thoughtfully.

"That's very sweet. Emma is lucky to have found you."

"I'm the lucky one. She may have upended my life a little at first…but ultimately my life is a hundred times better since she came to town."

Emma can't help but stare at the woman next to her. Regina's words had rung true, not an ounce of deception could be heard. Emma would be lying if she said she wasn't moved a little.

Debbie gives the pair a, "awe" face before she becomes distracted and starts yelling at her boys for starting a spit-ball contest.

Soon after that the group departs the market and decides to go on a 'duck tour'. Regina is confused by the suggestion at first and asks why they would bother to look at ducks when they are in a city so rich with history. But Emma laughed at her and explained that it was historic bus tour that took you on both land and in the water. Regina had was about to reprimand Emma for laughing at her when the other woman grabbed her hand to pull her toward the ticket stand. Regina suddenly couldn't hold in her anger anymore.

"Are you still feeling sick dear?" Regina asks her with audible concern in her voice.

The boat ride earlier had been nice while they were on land, but as son as the boat hit the water; Emma's head began to pound. She had suddenly felt more seasick than she ever had before. Of course this had lead to Regina teasing her about how she could have ever been with a pirate when she didn't have any sea legs. She had spent the rest of the tour with her head between her knees, while Regina rubbed small circles in her back _. Overall not a terrible experience._ Emma thinks.

After the boat tour, the boys decided that they want to go back to the hotel and go in the pool; which is where Regina is currently inquiring about Emma's health.

The god honest truth is that Emma doesn't know if she's okay. Regina has just taken off her coverall and is now standing in front of her in a skimpy bathing suit. It is much more revealing than the one she had worn at the lake. While that one had been flattering, it had also seemed almost athletic in it's style. This one is also a one-piece, but for all the skin it shows, and curves it hugs, it might as well be a bikini.

Emma momentarily lost all train of thought and her breath became sporadic. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ Sure, she had always thought her son's other mother was attractive. And sure, they had some chemistry. But it wasn't until that moment that she realized she might be attracted _to_ her.

Emma shakes her head to clear her thoughts. Regina takes this as Emma telling her that she is not okay, and consequently comes closer to offer her support. However, this action only makes the situation worse, so Emma sits down on one of the lounge chairs. By this point their entire party is watching her with concern.

"I'm fine, really." Emma tries to assure everyone.

"Perhaps your blood sugar is low. We should probably eat dinner soon." Regina suggests.

"Can we stay here and get room service?" Much to Debbie's surprise, Henry's question is directed to Regina and not Emma.

Regina makes a face at the thought of room service food but doesn't want to drag Henry away for dinner while he seemed to be having fun. Henry and the twins had been obsessed with the idea of getting food delivered to the pool since they had read that it was possible on a sign at check-in.

Emma sensed the hesitation and jumped in to the conversation "I don't think your mom wants to eat hotel food. Especially since we're in a major city that has a world of culinary opportunities."

Henry seems a little disappointed but tries not to let it show too much.

"I can stay here with the boys, while you are Regina go out to eat." Debbie suggests.

"We couldn't let you do that." Regina counters

"Of course you can! Henry is no problem at all! And you can't spend your fist trip to Boston in a hotel room!"

"Only if you're sure…" Emma says. She knows there is no point in arguing. Debbie is a well-meaning but pushy person.

"Absolutely! You guys go have fun!"

After a quick change of clothes and some freshening up, Emma and Regina make their way to dinner.

"Where would you like to eat?" Emma asks as they walk down the sidewalk. They aren't holding hands but they are close enough for their hands to bush against each other on occasion.

"I don't know of anywhere. You're the one who lived here. How about you show me somewhere you like."

Emma was a little nervous that this was some sort of test form the brunette. But in the end she thinks she made a good decision. At least it seems that way, considering the fact that the only item left on Regina's plate was the decorative parsley.

"This place was a decent choice Emma, good job"

Emma rolled her eyes at the half-compliment.

"I really like the atmosphere" She adds.

Emma can't help but agree. She took Regina to what claimed to be the "Oldest Tavern in America." She thought that it would go along nicely with the all the historical information they had been given that day.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to the restroom before we leave." Regina says as she stands up.

"Hurry back, I need to go after you." Emma says as she starts to leave.

"I was planning on spending at least 20 minutes in there but I suppose I could try and go quicker since you asked." Regina replies sarcastically.

Emma rolls her eyes, but Regina is already walking away and doesn't see.

Emma thought about how nice the day had been while she finished her beer and waited for the other woman to come back.

"Can I clear your wife's plate?" The waitress asks Emma.

"Oh, uh, she's not my wife…I, uh, think she's done though" Emma stumbles over her words. She knows that they had been pretending to be a couple all day, but for a perfect stranger to assume they were married was still strange and unexpected.

"Oh! I'm sorry for the assumption. I just heard you talking about your son before." The waitress looks down, clearly embarrassed.

"Hey it's no problem. In fact…" Emma says as she gets an idea "When my friend comes back, how about you ask her the same question." At the girl's confused look Emma tries to explain further. "Like call me her wife. And then tell me what her reaction is."

The girl giggles a little, clearly still embarrassed, but she agrees.

Finally Regina makes her way back to the table and Emma stands up. "Took you long enough" she says dramatically as she walks past the brunette. This time it's Regina's turn to roll her eyes.

As Emma makes her way back from the bathroom she sees the waitress and walks over to the bar.

"I can pay now." Emma states.

"Okay, give me one second then." The girl chirps as she leans over the cash register.

"So, what was her reaction?" Emma asks as the girl hands her the check.

"Oh, nothing really."

"What do you mean nothing really?" Emma looks up confused.

"I mean she didn't really have a reaction. I asked if her wife was done with her dink and she just responded 'yes, thank you'" The waitress explained.

"Huh" Emma says as she pulls out her wallet. "I was really sure she was going to ring you a new one for even insinuating that we were together."

"Thanks for sending me into a trap" The girl responds sarcastically.

"No harm, no foul." Emma says with a laugh. Despite her nonchalant nature, she does feel a bit guilty and consequently leaves the girl a very generous tip.

She walks over to the table and hold out her hand to Regina. "Ready to go?" she asks

Regina takes her hand and gets up, letting go once she is standing. "I know you use to be a thief Miss Swan, but I'm not in the habit of leaving without paying the bill."

"Har Har" Emma deadpans. "I already paid"

"Oh…thank you."

"Anytime." Emma answers, and Regina hopes that she actually means it.

It's already quite late by the time the women get back to the hotel. On their way there, they had walked past a chocolate shop that was still open. Regina suggested that they go in a get Debbie a small gift for having watched the boys for them. Emma was pleasantly surprised by the idea. Regina has really come a long way since her "evil" queen days.

When they get back to the room, Henry is already asleep and sprawled out on one of the beds. His game-boy still glowing, and in his lax hand. Regina goes over and carefully takes the device from him and turns it off. She then lays the throw blanket over his legs.

"Uh" Emma says uncomfortably.

Regina turns and gives her a questioning look.

"We never resolved the bed situation. " She whispers.

"Oh"

"It's fine I can move Henry or sleep on the floor or something."

"Nonsense Miss Swan, there is enough room in the bed for the two of us." Regina had suspected, and secretly hoped, all along that they would end up sharing one of the two beds.

Emma is surprised by the offer. She also doesn't understand why the offer gives her a nervous butterfly feeling in her stomach. She's shared a bed platonically with people before. It should be no big deal. _Why does it feel like a big deal?_

"Thanks" She replies as she grabs her things and gets changed.

She lays down and a few minutes later Regina comes out in her silk shorts pajama set. If she hadn't just seen Regina in her bathing suit today, this image of her would have been too much for Emma to handle.

"I hope you don't mind that I took the right side of the bed." Emma says and lays down facing Regina.

"Not at all. I actually get in on the left side of my bed at home anyway." Regina gets under the covers and lies on her back.

"Get in?"

"Well, yes, I usually end up somewhere toward the middle." She adds almost shyly.

 _Regina acting shy_? _What is going on?_ This trip is confusing Emma more than she ever thought.

"Good Night Emma" She says and turns off the lamp.

"'Night" Emma says and closes her eyes and wills herself to not think of her bedmate and fall asleep. Soon she does.

However, Regina is wide-awake. Being so close to Emma without actually having contact is driving her insane. She didn't realize it would be this bad when she had offered to share the bed. She doesn't want to be pushy or creepy but she can't relax. She finally turns her body to face the other woman and scoots more toward the middle of the bed, while still keeping some distance. She lays her hand on Emma's upper arm and closes her eyes. With Emma grounding her, she quickly falls asleep.

Emma wakes up a few hours later when something tickles her face. She opens her eyes and is slightly alarmed to see how close Regina has become during the night. Regina's hand is lying on her arm and their faces are merely inches apart. It may even have been Regina's breath on her face that woke her up.

Emma strains her head to look at the clock behind her. It's still only the wee hours of the morning, and they have plenty of time left to sleep. She knows she should probably turn around and put some distance between them, but she can't find it in herself to move. Regina looks so peaceful in sleep. Younger too.

Perhaps it's this vulnerability that makes Emma put her arm around Regina's waist. Wanting to protect her from some non-existent danger of the night. She knows the other woman will probably be furious in the morning if they wake up like this, but Emma can't find it in herself to care _._ She could always use being asleep as an excuse _. And will Regina be furious? She's acting so differently lately._ Emma allows her mind to wander and she drifts back into unconsciousness.

When Regina wakes up again, the sun is just staring to peak out from the clouds. She feels safe, and warm, and comfortable. She slowly wakes up and notices the blonde woman next to her…or she should say, practically on top of her. Their position looks as if they were giving each other a hug, except that Emma's head is no longer on the pillow but leaning against her chest.

All of a sudden, Regina's chest feels tight. It's as if the light pressure of Emma's forehead is somehow suffocating her. Her heart is pounding like a race horse. She needs to get up. And fast.

She tries to gently untangle herself but she knows that in her panicked state she has probably jostled the other woman too much.

Regina runs into the bathroom and turns the mirror light on. She doesn't want to actually look at herself in the mirror though. She roughly grabs the counter of the sink and looks down at her hands. Emma just had been _so close_. _Too_ close. She tries to breathe deeply but it still feels like she can't get enough air.

Then suddenly there is a hand on her shoulder.

"Regina, what's wrong?" A soft and concerned voice implores.

Regina doesn't know how it happens so fast but suddenly she is all over Emma. She is grabbing the other woman's face with both her hands as she kisses her. The kiss is full of desperation as well as uncontrollable desire. She maneuvers their bodies so they are flush against each other, with the blonde's back against the sink. Emma lets out a small "umph" when her back hits the marble.

The noise causes Regina's brain clicks into motion again. _What is she doing!?_

Regina starts to pull away from Emma. The look on her face is a mixture of horrified and apologetic. Emma had been too dazed to actually process the situation, but now her mind is in overdrive.

Before Regina can pull their bodies apart completely, Emma puts her hands on the woman's neck and pulls her into herself once more. Regina makes a noise of surprise but otherwise contributes as fully to the kiss as Emma. Emma suddenly realizes that if their son should wake up, he would see them. Not willing to break from their kiss, she pushes herself from off the sink and lightly kicks the door shut. She moves around until Regina's back is leaning against the now closed door.

She starts to kiss down the side of Regina's face and neck. Regina lets out a small moan when she sucks on her pulse point.

Then Regina's hands are on her cheeks, guiding her face so that they are level again. The other woman leans forward so their foreheads and resting against each other and they both try to catch their breath.

Finally Regina pulls back slightly and looks at Emma. "Not here…Not now." She says, still a little out of breath. Then she pecks Emma quickly and moves their bodies so that suddenly Emma finds herself on the other side of the door, in the bedroom.

Emma can see that the sun has risen pretty fully in the sky by now. How long had they been in the bathroom? A part of her thinks it has been only a few minutes but, another part of her feels like they were kissing ( _practically making out,_ she thinks smugly) for quite a while.

Emma had felt something inside of her snap with that kiss. She no longer knew what to think, how to act, or how she felt. It was as if some had pulled a rug out from under her, and she couldn't decide if she liked the view from the ground or not.

She can hear the shower start in the bathroom and assumes Regina is going to be a while. She decides to clear her head and take a walk around the hotel. Maybe get some coffee from the breakfast bar downstairs.

By the time Emma comes back upstairs, Regina and Henry are both showered and changed. They are sitting on one of the beds with a few brochres between them. Regina looks up as Emma comes through the door but quickly looks back down at the paper. Emma isn't sure how she feels about that. She doesn't think she could face the other woman just yet. At the same time, a part of her was hoping Regina would look at her with the same desire as before. That way Emma could be assured that Regina didn't regret the whole ordeal.

"Morning kid." She tries to keep her voice chipper as she greets them "Breakfast is still going on in the lobby for another half hour. They even have doughnuts." She adds with a wink to the boy.

Henry immediately hops up from the bed. "Awesome! You coming mom?" he directs at his brunette mother.

"Yes, let me just put these away first."

"I'm going to get ready while you're eating but I'll meet you in the lobby in a little while and we can leave from there." Emma says specifically to Henry as she makes her way into the bathroom.

Henry looks between his two moms curiously but doesn't say anything except and quick "Sounds good" before he leaves the room.

That day is spent at Fenway Park. Although Henry was never big into sports but the Finkles are big baseball fans.

"I still can't believe Ma convinced you to wear a baseball cap!" Henry says with a knowing smile.

"Yes, well, she seems to think that I'm going to melt in this weather without one." Regina says.

The day has not been the most pleasant one for her. On top of her anxiety over what happened that morning, the day had been hot and tiring. Regina couldn't help but notice that their seats are not that great, but considering she has little idea of how the game works anyway, she doesn't care that much. However, she does care that it is extremely hot out and the chairs are uncomfortable. She tries not to complain but Emma had noticed her grumblings and insisted she drink tons of water and wear this ridiculous hat.

"Stop picking on your mom Henry." Emma says as she arrives with more water for them. "She looks cute." She adds, while refusing to look at Regina. Regina is thankful that no one is paying attention to her rapidly appearing blush.

Emma had avoided looking directly at Regina most of the morning. She didn't know what she wanted to find behind the other woman's eyes. _Does she want a relationship? Do I? What if it didn't work out?_ She had been repeatedly asking herself these questions most of the morning.

A part of Emma wanted to flee; wanted to fake an emergency in Storybrooke and have to go home. She knew that plan was flawed for many reasons though. One big flaw was that her mind was torn between actually wanting to run from Regina, and wanting to kiss her again.

Debbie of course noticed her distress and confronted her about it at the concession stand earlier.

"Are you okay?" She asks

"Yeah, I'm fine"

"Did you and Regina have a fight?"

"No…it's complicated but we're fine, really."

"Okay? Well I'm sure you'll work it out. I've rarely seen such a perfect little family as yours." Debbie says before she drops the subject completely.

Since that conversation Emma had been trying to not over think the situation with Regina. They would talk about it later, she decided. For now, she would just let herself do all the couple things that she's been enjoying doing yesterday. She knew she was failing at acting completely normal though. So both she and Regina had focused their attention on the boys and the players, for the rest of the game.

"I'm hungry!" Henry announces as they leave the ballpark.

"How can you possibly be thinking about food, kid? You spent like 30 dollars at the concession stand on snacks!" Emma asks incredulously.

"I'm a growing boy!" he laughs and then hits her arm. "Plus you and mom ate half of my stuff anyway!" He adds

"I did not!" Regina chimes in.

"You did too, but it's okay. It was hilarious to watch you try a corn dog!"

Emma can't help but to laugh at Henry's statement. Regina's disgusted face as she chewed the corn battered hot dog was one of the funniest things she had seen in a long time.

"Well it was awful" Regina simply states with an air of regality that Emma doesn't think anyone else in a baseball cap could pull off.

Then Henry tugs on Emma's sleeve and pulls her aside.

"Can we go out to for a family dinner since it's our last night here." Henry whispers

"Yeah kid I think that sounds great! Why the secretive nature though?" She responds curiously

"I don't want Tom and Dan to think I don't want to hang out with them tonight. I would just rather spend some time with you guys though."

"Oh okay" She says. She is kind of touched that he would want to spend time with them over his friends. "I'll play the mom card than and insist on it." She says with a wink.

Emma then went and talked to Debbie about it. Debbie proceeded to announce that everyone needed some family time. Her sons groaned but didn't object further. Those boys might be kind of a pain, but they really did love their mom.

With no further objections, they went off in their respective ways.

When Emma left the table at dinner, Henry turned his attention to Regina.

"What happened, and why were you guys being so weird earlier?" Henry demands.

"Henry…"

"Don't tell me you weren't either. You were." He adds before she can deny the claim. "Is this because you guys cuddled last night?" He asks.

"How did you…?" She starts to question. Suddenly she is terrified that they hadn't closed the door to the bathroom soon enough.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you." He assuages her fears.

"Wait…did you fall asleep before we got back on purpose?" She asks as the thought occurs to her.

"Nope, that was a happy accident." He says with a smile. "But you never told me why you're being weird."

"Henry it was a little awkward this morning but we're fine now." She says. And it's pretty true. Things were still slightly awkward but once it was only them and Henry, their "normal" family routine slipped into place easily.

"Yeah I guess…" Henry says just as Emma comes back.

"You guess what?" Emma asks as she sits down

"He guesses that he's getting excited for school to start." Regina easily makes up.

Emma gives her a curious look. _Perhaps it's her lie detector going off_? Regina thinks.

Emma chooses not to comment though, and instead resumes eating.

"Ugh" Henry groaned, "I'm so full, I can barely walk"

"I'm not surprised after everything you've eaten today." Regina says with a slight reprimand in her voice.

"I'm surprised you've been letting him eat so much junk today." Emma studies the brunette as they walk. Regina has seemed so much more laid back lately than she usually is.

"He _is_ on vacation" She ruffles his hair as she responds. She can feel Emma staring at her but purposely ignores her son's other mother. " I expect you to eat healthier once we get home again though." She adds with a yawn.

"Are you tired?" Emma inquires and puts a hand on her shoulder. "You look dead on your feet." She adds to explain the question.

"I'm fine dear." She says a little short. _Exhausted and Sexually Frustrated_ she adds mentally _But fine_.

"Well we should probably get back to the hotel." Emma says, fully not believing that the other woman is fine.

When they get to the hotel, they see the Finkles arriving with ice cream cones in their hands.

"Funny seeing you here." Debbie announces when she sees their group.

"Henry, would you want to stay in our room tonight?" One of the boys asks almost immediately upon seeing their son.

"Can I?" Henry asks, turning around to his mothers.

"We wouldn't want to impose on Miss Finkle, Henry" Regina says gently.

"It's really no problem." Debbie returns with a smile. "I'm not actually staying in the same room as them. My room has an attached door though, so I can hear if they start becoming too rambunctious."

"If your sure" Emma says skeptically

"I am."

"Okay Henry, then it's fine. How about we meet downstairs for breakfast at 8.30?" Emma suggests

"Cool thanks!" Henry says while he hugs his moms real quick and runs away with the boys.

"See you in the morning!" Debbie says as she steers the boys toward their rooms on the first floor.

Emma and Regina separate from the rest of the group at that point to go upstairs. The atmosphere immediately changes when they enter the empty elevator together. They are both very aware that this is the first time they've been alone since the bathroom incident early that morning. They were also aware that they would have the entire hotel room to themselves. However, neither woman spoke the entire way to the room.

When they get back to the room Regina grabs her bag and heads straight to the bathroom without a word to the blonde. For the second time that day she found herself gripping the bathroom sink and trying to breathe deeply. In and out. In and out.

 _Why are you acting so pathetic_? She chastises herself. _It's only Emma in the other room. You have the power to control this situation._

With that in mind, Regina is able to calm down enough to freshen up and change into her pajamas.

By the time she leaves the bathroom, Emma is already changed and lounging on one of the beds with the TV on low in the corner. She looks up as Regina walks back into the main room. Their eyes lock and Regina can't seem to move. She realizes now that she is faced with another problem. Because Henry isn't here, there is an extra bed in the room tonight. There is actually no need for her and Emma to share one again. She's looks at Emma and isn't sure of what she should do. Should she go and lay on the extra bed?

Emma, of course, had been thinking about this problem since Regina had first entered the bathroom. She was extremely confused by the brunette's actions this morning, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't hoping it would happen again. She was also wondering if she should bring up the incident. She knew they needed to talk about it before anything else was to happen. Emma wasn't sure what Regina was thinking at all…until Regina came out of the bathroom that is. Emma could see the uncertainly in Regina's eyes as she looked at the spare bed and then back to Emma. This uncharacteristic uncertainty gave Emma just a little bit of confidence. She scooted from her spot in the middle of the bed to off to the side, leaving plenty of room for the other woman. Then she went back to "watching" the television and waited for Regina to make her decision. After a few moments she felt a dip in the bed as Regina rested against the head board next to her.

A few more moments passed before Regina finally broke the silence. "What the hell are we watching Miss Swan?"

Emma can't help laugh in relief. Sassy Regina is a Regina she could handle.

"You mean to tell me that you are a female over the age of twelve and you've never seen _Mean Girls_ before?" Emma responds in mock outrage.

"I think you're forgetting that the only movies I have seen are with my 14 year old son." She responds.

"We need to rectify that problem then." Emma says as she starts playing with the remote.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find the pay per view channels on this TV. If we are going to introduce you to the quintessential teenage girl movie than we have to watch it from the beginning."

"You're going to pay to watch a movie that is currently playing on TV for free?"

"It's worth it, trust me."

Those last two words are what get Regina in the end. She shuts her mouth and lets Emma play the movie from the beginning.

Regina has to admit that the movie is pretty funny at times. Of course Emma makes quite a few jokes about Regina sharing the same name as the evil main character. But she appreciated that even Regina George, the "villain" of the movie, had a pretty happy ending.

By the time the movie is over Regina is half asleep, having already been tired before the movie even started. Emma herself was already under the covers and groaned as she reached for the remote to turn off the TV.

Now the room is shrouded in darkness. Emma turns to face her body toward the brunette and raises an eyebrow. Regina sighs and slips under the covers herself. They simply stare at each other in the low light of the clock on the nightstand.

"I'm sorry I attacked you this morning." The words fall out of Regina's mouth before she realizes it.

This is not what Emma expected her to say at all. It seems to her that Regina isn't going to acknowledge why it happened though.

"Is this the part where you tell me it didn't mean anything?" The venom in her voice is surprising even to herself. The Dark One anger hadn't surfaced in a while, but she can feel it rising inside of her now.

"Of course it meant something." Regina responds after a frustrated sigh. "I just didn't think that's the way I would tell you how I felt."

"And how do you feel?" Emma asks, significantly softer.

Regina sighs again. She is still not really comfortable with having heartfelt talks.

"Do you remember a few weeks ago when Henry made me make a list of all the qualities I would want in a partner?" She waits until Emma nods her head in confirmation to continue. "Everything on the list described _you._ Henry pointed it out almost immediately. I, of course, was pretty reluctant to the idea when he first said it. However, I quickly realized that I had been subconsciously thinking of you when I wrote the list to begin with. After a while I came to think that it was silly of me to be spending my time and effort trying to find a cheap imitation of you when the actual person I wanted was right in front of me.

If you had been anyone else, I would have kissed you the moment I had realized I wanted to. But you aren't anyone else. You are the mother of my child…the daughter of my former enemies…and for all I knew, not interested in being anything more than my friend. After last night though, I couldn't handle my emotions anymore. You were so close. And then you came to check on me with such concern in your voice and…not many people have ever cared enough about me to check on me."

Emma had listened to Regina's speech in silence. When she had been the dark one, Regina had said that Emma was included in her Happy Ending. When Regina saved her, she realized that the same went for her as well. She had no idea however, that she could want Regina in any other capacity until this trip. She had never given too much thought into her feelings toward the other woman because she never knew the possibility for more of a relationship was there. Now that she did though, Emma realized that she wanted it. She wanted more. She wanted to be a family with Regina and Henry like they had been "pretending" to do all weekend.

"So what do you want?" Emma finally asks. Emma knows what she wants now, but a small part of her is still unsure what Regina wants exactly.

Regina gives her a weak smile and grabs Emma's hand from between them.

"You" She whispers. "The way I've been pretending to have you all weekend. I'm not suggesting we get married right now or anything, but…maybe someday? I at least want the possibility of a someday with you."

Emma isn't quite sure how to respond. She is close to tears but refusing to allow them to fall. So instead, she leans over a kisses Regina. The kiss sends an electric shock straight through to her heart. (Which is now almost painfully beating in her chest.) This kiss stays slow and loving; both of them wanting to embrace the new sensation.

Finally, they part and Regina lifts her hand and rests it on Emma's cheek. "I'm going to assume that is your way of saying you want a real relationship too."

"I was never really pretending to begin with." Emma says

They kiss once more before Regina turns around and becomes the "little spoon." Now that she knows the possibility for more is there, she is in no need to hurry things between them.

Her last thoughts before going to sleep are of Henry, and how smug he is going to be when he finds out.


End file.
